Panama

We just learned about the country of Guatemala

Let's learn a little about the country of Panama!

This is a small country in North America that connects North America to South America.
It borders Costa Rica, Columbia, the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

It is about 29,000 square miles, and about 4.3 million people live there.


(from: wikipedia - panama)

The flag of Panama is four rectangles.
The top left is white with a blue star, the top right is red, the bottom left is blue, and the bottom right is white with a red star.
Blue and red are for the different groups in Panama that run the government.
The white is for peace and purity.
The blue star is for purity and honesty, and the red star is for the law.


(from: wikipedia - flag of panema)

To eat in Panama you might have bollo, which is corn, potatoes, or yuca which is kind of like a potato.
The ground up corn, pototato or yuca is then all mushed up together and served like a bun.


(from: wikipedia - bollo)

The most famous thing about Panama is the Panama Canal.
Long ago if someone was in a boat on the Pacific Ocean and they wanted to go to the Atlantic Ocean, they either had to go all the way north above North America, around Alaska and Canada close to the north pole, or all the way south below South America, close to the south pole.
Both of these ways were very dangerous and took a long time to travel.
Since the country of Panama is not very wide and it is right in between North and South America, people had the idea to dig a trench in the land, so that boats could cut through like a shortcut.
The US helped dig the canal, and it took about 10 years, and cost about 12 billion dollars.


(from: wikipedia - panama canal)

There is a type of folk dance called the cumbia in Panama where people wear fancy dresses and outfits.

(from: wikipedia - cumbia (panama))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Armenia

Joy to the World

We just learned about the song It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.

Another famous Christmas song is Joy to the World.

This was written by Isaac Watts in 1719 in England.
Watts was famous for writing over 750 hymns, and this was another that he wrote for his church services.
One different thing about this Christmas song, is that it isn't really about Christmas!
The song is about when Jesus will come back from heaven again some day and there will be joy in the world.

The music for the song comes from Lowell Mason in 1848.

Joy to the world! the Lord is come; Let Earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare him room, And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing, And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the world! the Saviour reigns; Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found, Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness, And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love, And wonders, wonders, of His love.


(from: wikipedia - joy to the world)



Pentatonix - Joy To The World (Official Video) - Pentatonix


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Sistine Chapel

Michelangelo - Sistine Chapel - The Creation of the Sun, Moon, and Plants

We just learned about Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel - Separation of Light and Darkness.

Another famous part of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel is The Creation of the Sun, Moon, and Plants.

There are 9 paintings that tell the story from Genesis how God created the world.
First is the Separation of Light and Darkness.

Second is this painting showing two pictures of God.
On one side of the painting God has his hands up pointing toward the sun and the moon.
The other side of the painting shows God holding his hand toward some plants as he created plant life.


(from: wikipedia - the creation of the sun, moon, and plants)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Puma - William Zorach

Hindi - Very good thanks, and you?

We just learned to say How are you? in Hindi, आप कैसे हैं (aap kaise hain?)

and Very good thanks is बहुत अच्छा धन्यवाद। (bahut achchha dhanyavaad)

To be polite you should also ask how the other person is doing.

And you? - और आप? (aur aap) - sounds like or ah-p 文A




(from: wikipedia - devanagari)

Swahili: Sijambo asante / Safi asante. Hujambo / unakuwaje / Na wewe

Russian: Спасибо Хорошо (Spasibo khorosho). А вы? (A vy?) / А ты? (A ty?)

Norwegian: Veldig bra takk. Og du?

Greek: Πολύ καλά, ευχαριστώ. εσύ? (Polý kalá, efcharistó)

ASL: Very Good Thanks, and You?

Italian: Molto bene, grazie.

German: Sehr gut, danke. Und Sie?

Spanish: Muy bien gracias. ¿Y tú?

French: Très bien, merci. Et vous?

Computer Keyboard - Function Keys

We just learned about the Computer Keyboard.

Another part of a computer is the Computer Keyboard - Function Keys.

If you look on the top row of the computer keyboard, you should see the function keys that look like F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F8, F9, F10, F11, F12
Those are called the "Function Keys", and they can do special things on the computer.

Depending on if you are watching videos on the internet or checking your email, these function keys can do different things.
Some of the keys are the same for all computer programs, like the F1 key almost always opens up the Help, and F3 is usually to find things.
On some keyboards you have to hold down a "Fn" key in order to use the function key.
For those keybarods the function keys can have other jobs like changing the computer volume, the screen brightness, or turning off wifi.

The most used function keys are: F1 - Usually brings up a help message to try and show you what to do.
F2 - Edit, like if you want to change the name of a file on the computer.
F3 - Search for some text on a page or in a file.
F4 - If you hold down Ctrl and press F4 it will close a tab. If you hold down Alt and press F4 it will close a window.
F5 - Usually refreshes what you are looking at, so if you have your email open it might check for new mail.
F10 - If you hold down shift and press F10 it will act like a mouse right-click
F11 - Switch to full screen mode

The other function keys are usually different for each program.


(from: wikipedia - function key)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Boiler

Black Howler

We just learned about the Colombian Red Howler.

Another type of new world monkey is the Black Howler, also called black and gold howler or alouatta caraya.

This type of monkey lives in South America, spending most of their time in the trees.
They are well known for their howling, which sounds more like roaring, and can be heard from miles away.

These monkeys are some of the least active monkeys in the world, as they spend almost the whole day sleeping and are usually only awake and moving around for a few hours a day!

(from: wikipedia - black howler)



Howler Monkeys | National Geographic - National Geographic

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Persian Cat

Malleus

We just learned about the Ear Ossicles.

One of the three bones that make up the Ossicles is the Malleus, also called the hammer.

The malleus is touching the eardrum, and when the eardrum vibrates from sound coming in, it shakes the malleus bone.
When the malleus bone shakes, it is touching the other ossicles and sends the vibrations toward the inner ear.


(from: wikipedia - malleus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Monocyte

Guatemala

We just learned about the country of Cuba

Let's learn a little about the country of Guatemala!

This is a small country in Central America, that borders Mexico, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, the Carribean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.
It is about 42,000 square miles, and about 17 million people live there.
People in Guatemala speak Spanish.


(from: wikipedia - guatemala)

The flag of Guatemala is stripes of blue, white and blue, with the country's coat of arms in the middle.
Blue stripes are for the Pacific and Atlantic oceans on either side of the country.
White is for peace and purity.
The coat of arms shows a Quetzal bird for freedom, and then a scroll that has the date Guatemala became free from Spain.


(from: wikipedia - flag of guatemala)

To eat in Guatemala you might have fiambre, which is a salad made from sausages, chicken, sandwich meat, corn, onion, beets, pacaya flower, cheese, olives, and other vegetables.


(from: wikipedia - fiambre)

Visiting Guatemala you might go to Tikal, which is the ruins of a Mayan city that is over 2,000 years old.


(from: wikipedia - tikal)

There are volcanoes in Guatemala, like the Santa María volcano that erupts sometimes and tourists go to see the active volcano.


(from: wikipedia - santa maria (volcano))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Andorra

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

We just learned about the Christmas song O Come O Come Emmanuel.

Another famous Christmas song is It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.

This song came from a poem written by a church leader named Edmund Sears in Massachusetts in 1850.
Sears asked his friend Richard Storrs to write the music for it, since he worked for the church writing hymns.

When Sears wrote this, there was a war going on between America and Mexico, and Sears was sad that people were fighting.
So he wrote this song hoping to get people to think about the message that the angels gave to the shepherds, about peace on the earth and goodwill to men.

Some of the verses are not very happy and talk about war or the pain or hard work, so some people skip those verses when they print out the songs, but the message of Sears was really for those people to hopefully stop fighting and being sad and think about good things like heaven and angels.

Lyrics:

It came upon the midnight clear, That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth, To touch their harps of gold:
"Peace on the earth, goodwill to men, From heaven's all-gracious King."
The world in solemn stillness lay, To hear the angels sing.

Still through the cloven skies they come, With peaceful wings unfurled,
And still their heavenly music floats O'er all the weary world;
Above its sad and lowly plains, They bend on hovering wing,
And ever o'er its babel sounds The blessed angels sing.

Yet with the woes of sin and strife The world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel-strain have rolled Two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not The love-song which they bring;
O hush the noise, ye men of strife, And hear the angels sing.

And ye, beneath life's crushing load, Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way With painful steps and slow,
Look now! for glad and golden hours come swiftly on the wing.
O rest beside the weary road, And hear the angels sing!

For lo!, the days are hastening on, By prophet bards foretold,
When with the ever-circling years Comes round the age of gold
When peace shall over all the earth Its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world give back the song Which now the angels sing.


(from: wikipedia - it came upon the midnight clear)


It Came Upon A Midnight Clear (Remastered 1999) - Frank Sinatra


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Gutenberg Bible

Michelangelo - Sistine Chapel - Separation of Light from Darkness

We just learned about the Michelangelo's Moses.

Another famous painting that Michelangelo did was the Sistine Chapel - Separation of Light from Darkness.

AFter Michelangelo had finished Moses, the next big project he did was the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
This project was huge, and he painted over 300 figures on an area over 5,000 square feet.

The paintings were all made in different groups.
One group was nine paintings telling stories from Genesis.

In the beginning of the book of Genesis in the Bible it says:
And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
>God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.
God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

Michelangelo made a painting of God with his arms up in the sky separating the light from the darkness.


(from: wikipedia - separation of light from darkness)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Dream Lady - Edward McCartan

Hindi - How are you?

We just learned some greetings in Hindi, like नमस्ते (namaste) and अलविदा (alavida) and शुभ प्रभात (shubh prabhaat), नमस्कार (namaskaar), सुसंध्या (susandhya), शुभ रात्रि (shubh raatri).

To say How are you? in Hindi you would say:

आप कैसे हैं? (aap kaise hain?) - sounds like ah-p kay-see hay-in 文A


To respond and say Very good thanks, you would say:

बहुत अच्छा धन्यवाद। (bahut achchha dhanyavaad) - sounds like bah-hut ah-chah dah-n-yay-vah-d 文A




(from: wikipedia - devanagari)

Swahili: Hujambo, Unakuwaje, Sijambo asante, Safi asante

Russian: Как дела? (kak dela), Спасибо Хорошо (Spasibo khorosho)

Norwegian: Hvordan har du det? Veldig bra takk.

Greek: Γειά σου (Geiá sou), Χαίρετε (Chairete), Αντίο (Antío), Καλημέρα (Kaliméra), Καλησπέρα (Kalispéra), Καληνυχτα - (Kalinychta)

ASL: How are you?

Italian: Come va? Molto bene, grazie.

German: Wie geht es Ihnen? Sehr gut, danke.

Spanish: ¿Cómo estás? Muy bien, gracias.

French: Comment allez-vous? Très bien, merci.

Computer Keyboard

We just learned about the Video Cable and the way a computer monitor works.

Another part of the computer is the Keyboard.

Before there were computers, people used to use typewriters to put letters on paper with ink.
When computers were made for people to put letters on the computer monitor, people made electronic keyboards that looked like the typewriters.
On a computer keyboard, when you press down on a key there it pushes down on a button that sends an electrical message to the computer telling you which key was pressed.
It's almost like your keyboard is made up of hundreds of little light switches and when you press one it turns a light on.

Most computers these days have letters in the "QWERTY" order, meaning that the letters are set up in the order where the letters are like:
1234567890
QWERTYUIOP
ASDFGHJKL
ZXCVBNM

The QWERTY keyboard style was invented back in 1874 when someone came up with the idea to put the letters in that order.
There are a lot of stories saying that it was to make sure typewriter machines didn't jam up, or to make people type faster, but nobody is really sure exactly why the computer keyboard doesn't go in alphabeitcal ABC order.

Other people have come up with keyboards that help people type faster, but because people had already learned how to type on QWERTY keyboards they have never changed.


(from: wikipedia - computer keyboard)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Firebox

Colombian Red Howler

We just learned about the Mantled Howler.

Another type of new world monkey is the Colombian Red Howler, also called the Venezuelan red howler or alouatta seniculus.

This type of monkey lives in South America, spending most of its life up in the trees.
They grow to be about 2 feet long, weigh about 20 pounds and have a long tail they use to climb around.
Just like their name says, they have red colored fur and they make really loud howling sounds that can be heard for miles.



(from: wikipedia - colombian red howler)



Red Howler Monkeys | Expedition Guyana | BBC Earth - BBC Earth


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Scottish Fold

Ear Ossicles

We just learned about the Middle Ear.

Part of the middle ear is called the Ossicles.

These are three bones in the ear that help take the sound coming from the outer ear and vibrate to help send the right sounds to the inner ear.


(from: wikipedia - ossicles)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: B Cells

Cuba

We just learned about the country of Honduras

Let's learn a little about the country of Cuba!

This is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, and borders the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It is about 42,000 square miles, and about 11 million people live there. In Cuba the people speak Spanish.


(from: wikipedia - cuba)

The flag of Cuba has a red triangle on the red, with a white star in it, and five sideways stripes of blue and white.
The red triangle is for liberty, equality and fraternity, courage and independence.
The blue stripes are for the three different parts of Cuba, and the white is for purity.


(from: wikipedia - flag of cuba)

To eat in Cuba you might have ropa vieja, which is a type of shredded steak stewed in a tomato sauce.
The name means "old clothes" and there is an old story of a poor man who was so hungrey that he tore up his clothes and put them in a pot to cook, and then prayed over them for food and it turned into this delicious meat stew.


(from: wikipedia - ropa vieja)

Visiting Cuba you might go to the Havana Cathedral, a church built in 1796.

(from: wikipedia - havana cathedral)

In the city of Camagüey, clay pots called tinajon are used a lot to help get rain water to be used later.
There is an old legend that if you drink water from one of these clay pots, you will fall in love with a girl from Camagüey and never leave the city.


(from: wikipedia - camagüey)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Albania

O Come, O Come, Emmanuael

We just learned about the O Little Town of Bethlehem.

Another famous Christmas song is O Come, O Come, Emmanuael.

This is a very old song, going back all the way to before the year 600 AD.
The words for the song were first written in Latin, in an old song called O Antiphons, that was sung by Monks around Christmas time.

The music for the song was written into a book around 1851 in England, but people think that song was first written hundreds of years before some time in France.

In 1861 an English priest named John Mason Neale translated the words from Latin into English and put it into hymnals for people to sing.
So it is a very very old song, and has become famous all over the world as a Christmas song!

One famous thing about the song is that each verse starts with a different name for Jesus, like Emmanuel, Rod of Jesse, Dayspring from on high, Key of David, and Adonai.

O come, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here, Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free Thine own from Satan's tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save, And give them victory o'er the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Dayspring, from on high, And cheer us by Thy drawing nigh;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come And open wide our heav'nly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high, And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Adonai, Lord of might, Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
In ancient times didst give the law In cloud and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.


(from: wikipedia - o come, o come, emmanuael)



O Come O Come Emmanuel (feat. Naomi Raine & Nate Moore) - Maverick City | TRIBL - TRIBL


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Devshirme

Michelangelo - Moses

We just learned about the Michelangelo - Piccolomini Altarpiece.

Another famous sculpture is Michelangelo's Moses.

After Michelangelo had finished his statue of David he was very famous, and was asked to make over 40 statues for the tomb of Pope Julius II.

He finished statues for people from the Bible of Moses, Leah and Rachel.
After that it had been about 10 years, and the people who were paying for the sculptures decided they didn't want any more, so he didn't get to finish the rest of the statues.

Michelangelo's statue of Moses is interesting because there are horns on Moses' head.
This is because when people were reading the Bible in Hebrew they thought it said that when he came down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments that his face was so changed after talking to God that he had horns on his head.
People now believe the words really say that his face was full of brightness, and so those would be like rays of light.
Michelangelo felt that this Moses was his greatest sculpture ever, and when he was done he stood up and shouted to the statue "now speak!" because it looked so good like it was almost alive.

The statue of Leah shows her face down as if she is working, and the statue of Rachel shows her face up like she is praying.
In the Bible Leah was working very hard raising seven children, and Rachel prayed for many years and then finally had two children of her own.




(from: wikipedia - moses (michelangelo))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Prometheus - Manship

Hindi - Good Morning

We just learned a few ways to say hello and goodbye in Hindi, like नमस्ते (namaste) and अलविदा (alavida).

Sometimes you might want to say good morning, good afternoon, or good night.

Habari is a way to say hello that means "How is the news", Za means "for", and Asubuhi means "morning".
So sometimes to say good morning people will say Habari za asubuhi, which really means "How is the news for morning".

Good Morning - शुभ प्रभात (shubh prabhaat) - sounds like shoo-b p-drah-b-hah-t 文A

Good Day - नमस्कार (namaskaar) - sounds like nah-m-skah-r 文A

Good Evening - सुसंध्या (susandhya) - sounds like soo-sen-d-yah 文A

Good Night - शुभ रात्रि (shubh raatri) - sounds like shoo-b-rah-t-ree 文A



(from: wikipedia - devanagari)

Swahili: Habari za asubuhi, Habari za mchana, Habari za jioni, Habari za usiku

Russian: Доброе утро (Dobroye utro), Добрый день (Dobryy den), Добрый вечер (Dobryy vecher), Доброй ночи (Dobroy nochi)

Norwegian: God morgen, God dag, God ettermiddag, God kveld, God natt

Greek: Καλημέρα (Kaliméra), Καλησπέρα (Kalispéra), Καληνυχτα (Kalinychta)

ASL: Good Morning, Good Day, Good Evening, Good Night

Italian: buongiorno, buon pomeriggio, buonasera, buona notte

German: Guten Morgen, Guten Tag, Guten Abend, Gute Nacht

Spanish: Buenos días, buenos tardes, buenas noches

French: bonjour, bonsoir, bonne nuit

Video Cable

We just learned about the Display - Refresh Rate.

Another part of the monitor is the Video Cable, or display cable.

This is one of the wires that comes out of the back of the monitor and goes to the computer.
The cable will send messages from the computer to the monitor to tell it what pictures to show on the screen.
If the computer is a laptop, then the monitor is connected right to the computer and it won't have a video cable outside the laptop.

Through the years since the monitors have gotten better at showing picturs, the cables have had to changes so they could keep up with the better pictures.

One of the first cables that was very popular was called the VGA cable, where VGA means Video Graphics Array.
This cable had 15 wires in it that the computer used to send the pictures that would go on the monitor.

Later on people wanted to make better pictures with the monitors so they came up with better cabels that could send more information faster to the monitor.
There are a few different types right now that people can get, but one of the most popular is called HDMI, which means High-Definition Multimedia Interface.
HDMI cables can come in different sizes like standard, mini and micro.


(from: wikipedia - vga connector)

(from: wikipedia - hdmi)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Locomotive Piston

Mantled Howler

We just learned about the Black Bearded Saki.

Another type of new world monkey is the Mantled Howler or golden-mantled howling monkey.

These monkeys live in Central and South America.
They have mostly black fur and the grow to be about 22 pounds and about 2 feet long.

Just like you would think from the name, they make a loud sound, that is usually like a low grunting sound almost like a dog barking or a pig grunting.
It can be heard in the jungle from miles away.


(from: wikipedia - mantled howler)



Mantled Howler Monkeys (Alouatta palliata) - Colombia - Tim Forrester


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Siamese Cat

Middle Ear

We just learned about the Perilymph.

Another part of the ear is the Middle Ear.

We've learned about the outer ear that you can see on the outside of the body, and the inner ear that turns the sound into messages for the brain to understand.

The Middle Ear is in between the outer and inner ear, and helps take the sound brought in by the outer ear and turn it into sound waves for the inner ear to send to the brain.

(from: wikipedia - middle ear)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: T Cells

Honduras

We just learned about the country of Nicaragua

Let's learn a little about the country of Honduras!

This is a small country in Central America, bordering Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
It is about 43,000 square miles, and it has about 9.5 million people living there.
People in Honduras speak Spanish.


(from: wikipedia - honduras)

The flag of Honduras are three sideways stripes of blue, white and blue, with 5 stars in the middle of the white.
The blue stripes are for the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, and the stars are for the 5 other countries in Central America that once were part of a bigger country, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala.


(from: wikipedia - flag of honduras)

To eat in Honduras you might have casamiento which is rice with red beans, usually served with a banana.

(from: wikipedia - honduran cuisine)

Visiting Honduras you might go to the Bay Islands and go scuba diving to see the fish and coral reefs.

(from: wikipedia - bay islands)

Long ago the Mayan people lived in Honduras, and there are still some old Mayan ruins and statues in a place called Copán.


(from: wikipedia - )


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Thurston Island

O Little Town of Bethlehem

We just learned about the song O Come All Ye Faithful.

Another famous Christmas song is O Little Town of Bethlehem.

The words for this song were written by a priest named Phillip Brooks in Philadelphia, after he traveled to Israel and saw the town of Bethlehem.

When he came back home he told the church organist Lewis Redner to write the music for it to be played a week later.
Redner didn't work on it all week and went to sleep Saturday night after not even writing a single note.

He said later that he woke up late in the night like he had an angel whispering in his ear, and he quickly grabbed some paper and wrote down the melody for the music.
The next morning he wrote the harmony part for the music on the way to church, and after that it was printed in a book called The Church Porch and became famous.


(from: wikipedia - o little town of bethlehem)



O Little Town Of Bethlehem - Cedarmont Kids

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Fall of Constantinople

Michelangelo - Piccolomini Altarpiece

We just learned about Michelangelo's sculpture of Bacchus.

Another famous sculpture by Michelangelo was the Piccolomini Altarpiece.

In 1481 AD a famous church leader named Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini wanted to make a really big sculpture with lots of statues to honor the Poccolomini family name.
It was supposed to have 14 sculptures on it, and he asked sculptor Andrea Bregno to do it.
He worked on it for 4 years, but then had to quit because the work was too hard for him at the age of 70.

Next the artist Pietro Torrigiano was hired to work on the altarpiece, but he only made one sculpture and then quit.

Tdeschini tried for another artist, and hired Michelangelo to make the rest of the sculptures.
At the same time, many other people saw the Pietà sculpture he had just finished and were so amazed and also wanted him to sculpt other things.

He started working on sculptures for this Piccolomini Alterpiece, but when he was offered the chance to make the statue of David he didn't spend much time on this altarpiece because he liked that other sculpture better.

After he had worked for a few years on the David sculpture, the person who hired him died.
When Todeschini died, his family asked Michelangelo to just do 4 sculptures so they could be finished.
He did sculptures of Saint Peter, Saint Augustine, Saint Paul, Saint Gregory.



(from: wikipedia - piccolomini altarpiece)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Vision of Peace - Carl Milles

Hindi - Hello and Goodbye

We've now learned a whole year of Swahili!
Wow!

Let's try another language now, how about Hindi?

This is the language spoken by hundreds of millions of people acros the world, mostly in the country of India.

Hindi uses a different alphabet than English, called Devanagari.
It has 14 vowels and 33 consonants, and doesn't look at all like the English alphabet.

Let's learn how to say hello and goodbye in Hindi!

To say hello in Hindi you would say Namaste 文A

In the Devanagari letters it looks like this: नमस्ते
It's made up of letters like न na म ma स् sa ते ta, and when they are all together it sounds like nuh-mah-stay.

To say goodbye you can also say namaste, or you can say Alavida 文A

In the Devanagari letters it looks like this: अलविदा
It's made up of letters like अ a ल la वि vi दा da, and when they are all together it sounds like ah-l-vee-dah.



(from: wikipedia - devanagari)

Swahili: Jambo, Hujambo, Habari, Mambo, Shikamoo

Russian: Привет (privet), Здравствуй (Zdravstvuy), Пока (poka), до свидания (do svidaniya)

Norwegian: Hei, Hallo, Ha det, Ha det brah

Greek: Γειά σου (Geiá sou), Χαίρετε (Chairete), Αντίο (Antío)

ASL: Hello and Goodbye

Italian: Ciao, arrivederci

German: Hallo, Auf Wiedersehen

Spanish: Hola! Adiós!

French: Bonjour! Au Revoir!

Display Refresh Rate

We just learned about the Display Resolution.

Another part of a computer monitor is the Display Refresh Rate.

When the computer screen is playing a video, or opening up a web page or showing something on the screen, it has to re-draw the screen for that picture very fast so that your eyes don't notice that it is changing, and so that it just looks like a real picture.

In old computers, the screen was drawn fresh every time starting from the top left, and going row by row from the top to the bottom.
Newer computers with LCD and LED monitors have smarter ways to redraw just some parts of the screen, but they still can only "refresh" the image on the page at a certain speed.

The speed that the screen can change and show a new image is called the Refresh Rate.
Our human eyes can only really tell if something is flickering if it is changing less than about 60 times per second.
If you think of that like a paper flip book showing an animation, you can usually see the flicker for those.
But if they were flipping so fast you couldn't tell, it would just look like an animated cartoon.

60 times per second is called the frequency, and is also the same as saying 60 Hertz or 60 Hz because Hertz means "per second".
Most monitors these days have a refresh rate of at least 60 Hz.


(from: wikipedia - refresh rate)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Piston Rod